Spring retaining-clip.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

-E. E. & G. T. WILT. SPRING RETAINING CLIP.

APgLIOATION FILED AUG. 17I 1903.

N0 MODEL.

witnesses:-

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. terial support.

UNITED STATES Patented March 22, 1904 PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER E. VVILT AND CHARLES T. WILT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS;

SPRING RETAINING-"CLIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,266, dated March 22, 1904:

Application filed August 17,1903- To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, ELMER E. WIL'rand CHARLES T. WILT, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Retaining-Clips; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel spring-clip for retaining articles in position for display or convenient access on a suitable base or support, and is especially applicable for use by salesmen fordisplaying on a sample card or tray merchandise samples-such, for instance. as bunches of artificial flowers for milliners use.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the-drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a clip made in accordance with our invention, showing the same applied to a sheet-ma- Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the base or support, showing the manner of attaching the clip thereto.

As shown in said drawings, A designates a base or support which is made of sheet material, such as cardboard, and may consist of a sample-card or the wall of a sample-tray.

B designates as a whole our improved clip which is attached to the support. Said clip is made of a single piece of resilient wire and comprises two longitudinal side members I), which are located on the display side of the support and are joined at one end of the device by an integral transverse part I), the whole constituting a closed loop. Said side members are formed to provide coils 6 which increase the resiliency of the side members, and said coils are so formed as to press or hold the outer looped end of the device against the base or support. The device is provided in rear of said coils with transversely-bent portions 6 which extend through aperturesin said support to the side thereof opposite to the display side thereof, and said trans- Serial No. 169,711. (No model-l verse portions 6 are joined on the side of the support opposite to said coils to rearwardlydirected attaching-arms b 6 which are attached in any suitable manner to the support.

. As herein shown, said arms converge and are attached at their rear ends 6*, which are shown as brought together in parallel relation by means of a staple b the closed part of which extends transversely beneath or across said parallel ends of theattaching-arms and the arms of which staple are passed through the support and are clenched or folded upon the display side thereof. bers Z) are curved outwardly from the support between their ends, as shown at b, to afford between, the clip and the support a space to receive the article, as the stem of a bunch of flowers, which the clip is designed to affix to or retain on the support. Preferably the looped outer end of the clip is inclined away from the support, as shown at 6 to facilitate the insertion of an article between the clip and support.

An article to be retained on or attached to the support by said clip is inserted laterally between the inclined forward end 6 of the clip and the support until it is brought to the space between the curved part If of the side members thereof and the support, and the resiliency of said side members, enhanced by the presence of the coils 6 as before stated, acts to press or force the looped end of the clip upon the article and confine the same between the clip and support. The engagement of the article by the laterally-separated side members of the clip serves to hold or confine .said article in transverse relation with the clip members, whereby the article is retained in a given or desired-relation on said support.

The device described is especially useful for salesmen for displaying bunches of arti- I Said longitudinal memthe like upon a display or sample card and may also constitute part of a rack for holding pens, pencils, and the like in convenient access to the user of such articles.

The clip is exceedingly simple in its construction and the manner of its attachment to the support, and by reason of the arrangement whereby the attaching arms are fixed to the support on the side thereof opposite to the active or confining part of the clip the stress brought upon the clip by the presence of an article between the same and a support or when the clip is raised to permit the insertion and removal of an article between the same and support does not tend to derange the means by which the clip is attached to the support.

We claim as our invention 1. The combination with a thin, sheet-material support, of a clip made of a continuous piece of wire and comprising the longitudinal retaining members 6 joined at the front of the clip, the coils b and the attaching members I), said retaining members and the coils being located wholly in front of said support and the attaching members extending through and lying against the rear face of the support and attached thereto, said retaining members being curved away from the face of the support between the ends thereof and being inclined away from the support at their outer ends, said clip being made narrower than the support and contained wholly Within the side edges thereof.

2. The combination with a thin sheet-material support, of a clip made of a continuous piece of wire and comprising the longitudinal retaining members 6 which are joined by a transverse member at the front end of the clip, the coils b which lie against the front face of said support, the transversely-directed parts If in rear of the coil, which extend through two apertures in said support, and the rearwardly-directed attaching-arms which lie flat against the rear face of the support and are fastened thereto, said retaining members 6 being made straight for a distance in front of said coils and the straight parts thereof lying flat against the front face of the support, the retaining members being provided in front of said straight portions with outwardlycurved parts I) to afford between the support and said curved parts a space to receive an article to be retained by the clip, and the front ends of said members and the transverse connecting member being bent obliquely outwardly from the support to facilitate the insertion of an article into the space between the support and said curved parts 6 of the retaining member.

In testimony that weclaim the foregoing as our invention we afiix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses, this 30th day of June, A. D. 1903.

ELMER E. VVILT. CHARLES T. WlLT.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, GERTRUDE BRYCE. 

